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Side Pipes

When I first received the kit I took out the side pipes and figured I'd better paint them before they got rusty. I didn't know how long it would be before I'd have a chance to use them. I brought them to my Dad's house and bead blasted them clean. I then used some high heat primer on them. Then followed that up with a couple of coats of Rust-Oleum High Heat Ultra "Semi-Gloss" black paint. I don't know how well it will last, but figured I could easily touch it up later if I had to. Also wanted to go with black to match the black wheels.

I wanted to get the pipes on for the first start to see how loud it will be with these. I thought it might be tight fitting them on. I went to put the driver's side on and try to slide them on the header. Nope, wouldn't go. I jammed wood shims in the headers and a clamp on the muffler to bring the two pipes closer so they would fit. Nope. Ok, let me try one of the two pipes onto one of the header pipes. Nope, not even close. Time to start grinding, sanding, filing, dremeling, etc. At this point I didn't care about scratching anything, I just wanted to be able to slide the pipes on. Finally after a few hours of taking a little bit off at a time of both the outside of the header and the inside of the mufflers, I was able to slide the driver's side on. Put on the clamps and called it a night. The passenger side would wait until the next night.

Time for the passenger side. Looking at the two pipes of the muffler for the passenger side, I could see that the metal at the end was much thinner on one of the two pipes. That side would easily slide over the header. The other one was the same thickness as both of the driver side pipes. This needed grinding to fit on, but at least I was prepared for it this time. I ground away and was able to get this side on much easier. Put the clamps on and went to bed.

Back to the drivers side, the header was slightly touching the corner of the driver's foot box. To gain more clearance, I cut the footbox and bent it in. I still need to make the outside piece fit, and will get to this soon.

Here you can see the cut in the footbox that I needed to make (as well as the grass still on the tires from my first go kart) to provide clearance for the header. Since my foot could never get in that corner, it shouldn't really impact the room in the footbox.:

Here are a couple of pics of the passenger side of the car showing the black pipes and how the car sits now:

I didn't install the hangers yet and will wait to do this after the body is on.

Hazard and Turn Signals

Back to the electric and the hazard switch and turn signals. For the hazard switch, I used the ON-ON double pole switch from the kit. For the turn signal, I was using the Russ Thompson turn signal. It took a bunch of research to figure out how I wanted to connect it up. Eventually I settled upon the following schematic:

Normally, the hazard switch will be in the down position (connecting left to middle in the above picture), which connects the turn signal path. The middle connection of the hazard switch goes to the dash LED and front/rear lights for each side. Then the turn signal will function.

With the hazard switch in the up position (connecting right to middle in the above picture), the turn signal will be bypassed and since the hazard flasher connects to both the left and the right side of the switch, both sides will flash.

Front and Backup Cameras

I wanted to have a backup camera on the car since I figured it would probably be difficult to see out the back. Then I decided, why not a front one as well? I spent a bunch of time trying to research different ones as well as how to display the pictures.

I decided that I wanted to use the rear view mirror to display the cameras. I ended up getting the CrimeStopper SecurView SV-9156.CT. This has a 4.3" LCD Screen, Compass and Thermometer and has 2 inputs.

For the cameras I got 2 PyleView PLCM38FRV cameras which can be used as a forward or a reverse camera (ie. flip image). There are 3 wires on the camera that can be tied together to reverse the image and show distance lines. For now I have the distance lines off and the rear camera reversed.

Now for the fun part, hooking them up. Again back to the pencil and paper to map out the connections. I wanted the backup camera to turn on when in reverse, so I needed to use the reverse switch on the TKO500. To connect to that I bought the Ron Francis Wiring Transmission Backup Light Connector Pigtails PG-055. I also added in a manual override switch to turn on the backup camera when I wanted, while not in reverse. So I can see who's tailgating me. :) I didn't want to turn on the backup lights when using this manual override switch, so I can use it while driving and not have the backup lights turn on. This required me to connect it via the schematic below.
The front camera will be powered all the time and the display can be turned on/off by a button on the mirror. So when the ACC is on, the front will display. If in reverse or I override it, the back will display.
There's a green wire on the mirror that when at +12V will display the backup camera, so this had to be wired in.

For the backup lights, I bought 2 Marker Lights - L488-Clear from Finish Line Accessories which match the Factory Five tail lights.

Here's the schematic:

Backup camera (not the final mount):

Front camera (not the final mount):

TKO pigtail. Hard to see.

Override switch under the dash. The switch on the left is the backup camera override. Next to that is the radiator fan override switch, the dash dimmer, clock set button and AC temp knob.

Here's a picture of the mirror showing the front camera. Also has the direction and the temperature.

Flash to Pass

Time for another hand drawn schematic. I had bought the Russ Thompson turn signal system and at the end of the turn signal is a small button. Like many others I wanted to use this for the high beam switch. Also this button can be used as a "flash to pass" button. With that the headlight switch doesn't need to be on to flash them.

Back to the documents and the forum to figure out how to wire this thing up. Also shown is that I wired up the fog lights to the low beam output signal. The thought is that when you put on the high beams, the fog lights will shut off. For the Relay Switch I used a Standard LR-35. Here's what I ended up with:

Here you can see the headlight switch with the fog light switch under it.

Rear Lights

For the rear lights, I used the 4 Red lights that came with the kit and I bought 2 White lights of the same style (L488-Clear from Finish Line Accessories) to use as the backup lights. For the red lights, they have a high and low brightness. I plan on using all 4 low brightness as the tail/running lights. The upper 2 high brightness will be my brake lights and the lower 2 low brightness will be my turn signal lights. I also plan on wiring in a 3rd brake light that I'm thinking will go in the rear spoiler, but haven't connected that up yet.

I took apart the lights and I tested with a 12V battery and then I ohm'd out the connections and determined the low brightness were about 2.3ohms and the high brightness were around 0.7ohms. I then stuck the wire in the connectors on the lights and closed it up a bit with pliers, then soldered the wires together.

After soldering, I slide the rubber cover back on the lights and crimped on some weatherpack connectors. I had bought this tool (CRIMPING TOOL DELPHI SERIES WEATHERPACK 12014254 Item #: 440) a while back and there is no way I'd be able to make the connections without it.

In order to make the connection between the lights and the connector on the harness, I needed to make up a harness. Also used weatherpack connectors for these since I still had a bunch left.

Body On

My Dad helped me take the body down out of my garage where it has been hanging for almost 2 years and bring it into the basement. From reading others posts we knew we'd have to trim around the gas tank to get it to fit. After unscrewing it from the body buck we gave it a test fit. It looked like the body would fit fine around the sides of the tank, but no way was it going to fit at the back of the tank. I decided to take 2" off the back. Nope, not enough, still hitting the tank. Then tried taking some more off around the corners of the tank where it was really hitting. Nope, not enough. Then I decided to follow the contour of the back and leave about a 1 5/8" lip on the bottom of the body.

Weather strip and exhaust cutouts

Before the body went on, I added some weather strip to the trunk area like they mention in the manual. I wasn't 100% sure where to add it, but just put in on the sides of the trunk. Not sure if I need it on the back part.

Then added the bulb seal to the top of the firewall piece. Since I added the insulation, I had to spread out the ends to slip it over that and the aluminum. It seems to hold on there pretty well.

Weather strip and exhaust cutouts Cont.

Now for the how the rest of the body lines up. This falls into the things you don't realize until the body is on category. The height of the exhaust headers and how they line up with the body cutouts.

The good news: The drivers side lines up perfectly

The bad news: The passenger side isn't even close

I never realized before how different they were. The passenger side is 2" lower than the driver's side. If I were to cut the fiberglass, I think I'd have to cut all the way through it. Looks like there is some header cutting and welding in my future......

Exhaust

I decided to cut the passenger side header.

I then fit the side pipe to where I wanted it to go and riveted the hanger mount into the 2" frame and hung the pipes in position. I held up the front of the pipe with a jack to fine tune the exact position up and down and in and out.

The next step was to figure out how to connect the header to the pipes. The more I thought about it, the less I wanted to try to slip on the header and use the clamps that came with the kit. After consulting with my Dad and looking around I decided to buy 4 sets of Patriot Collector Flange Kits H7257. These had a 2" hole and two bolt holes on each piece. This would hopefully allow easier removal of the pipes.

So I cut and ground (and ground and ground) down the pieces of the header that I cut off and fit them to match the header and pipe angle

Once I was done grinding this piece to fit we tacked it in place. Then tacked on a flange to the piece of pipe that slid into the exhaust pipes. Then we bolted the two flanges together and tacked up the lower passenger side pipe.

Driver's side exhaust

Now on to the driver's side. I was thinking that since the header was coming out in the correct spot for the body, that I was just going to trim the header back a bit and weld on the flanges. As I cut the header back, I realized that the top tube wasn't going to line up where the end of the pipes was going to be. So I cut the top header where 2 goes into 1.

I then slide in the bottom pipe into the bottom header and realized the pipes were too high in the front and were sticking out too far from the body in the front.

Riveted in the driver's side hanger and hung the pipe.

I trimmed 2" off the muffler to match the passenger side. Then I lined up the muffler to where I wanted it to go. You can now see the bottom header wasn't going to be lined up either.

Driver's side exhaust cont.

So off with the bottom one as well. Ground that one to line up with the bottom pipe of the muffler and tacked that one in place and started fitting the upper pipe.

Got that pretty well lined up.

Tacked that one up too.

Since the driver side header is very difficult to take off, my Dad graciously agreed to weld the rest of the driver side header while on the car. We took off the passenger side header and the two pipes and he brought them back to his house to finish the welding. It took a while, but I'm happy with how they came out. Hopefully this will make taking the pipes on an off a bit easier than using the clamps.

Alignment

A few weeks back, I made an attempt to roughly align my car. I set the ride height. I drew some lines on the floor parallel to the frame, then some more near the wheels. I spent many hours over a few nights to get it close. With the IRS, it's a pain to make the adjustments.
I decided that before I go further with the trunk aluminum panels and the body, that I'd take it in and get it aligned. I've been trying to read up of various alignment threads and settings. Trying to figure out the toe in, caster and camber settings to use. Since I was running power steering, I settled on 7degrees caster. For both the front and rear, I would use 1/16th in toe and -0.5degrees camber. I saw some posts regarding the number of thread engagement for the front, so before I brought it in, I took a few pictures to see.

The threaded sleeve is 4"

The rods have 2.5" of thread

With those lengths, it doesn't appear as if I'll have an issue with too little thread engagement.

My Dad and I loaded it up on the trailer and were ready to go.

We got to the shop and I drove off the trailer and into the bay and up on the lift. The guy put the sensors on all the wheels and he had at it. We started with the back and I had done a pretty good job. He didn't touch the left rear wheel and just needed to tweak the right rear. At first he did one complete turn of the front adjustment. It was too much, so he went back 1/2 turn. 1/2 turn results in 3/32" toe in change. The back was set.
Then on to the front. When trying to get the caster at 7degrees, we quickly found out that with 4" sleeves, the most we could get on the passenger side was ~4degrees. To get more, I'd have to get a smaller sleeve on the rear or cut the ones I have. I figured 4 was good enough for me for now. If I want to change it later I could. He then matched the driver's side and adjusted the toe. Seemed like it was good enough for now. I'll probably take it back in after a year on the road. Drove it out and back on the trailer and back home.

Trunk Aluminum

Now that the rear end is aligned, I'm trying to finish up the trunk aluminum. I need to cut two big holes in the floor for the boxes I installed and one for the fuel pump. Also planning on cutting a hole on each side of the side panels to get access to the tail lights.

But before all that, I think I figured out a way to fairly easily remove and install the big aluminum panel for the trunk floor.

Removal
Step 1:
Bow the floor and pull back on the driver's side until round frame tube goes into the cutout for the shock tower (not on IRS)

Step 2:
Repeat this for the passenger's side.

Step 3:
Go back to the driver's side and pull back until the floor completely clears the round frame tube

Step 4:
It pops right out

Installation
Step 1:
Bend the floor and put the passenger side in first, making sure you are tucked under the "X" behind the passenger seat. Put the round frame tube in the passenger side shock mount hole in the floor. Then bend and put the driver's side in.

Step 2:
Bend up the passenger side and pull forward allowing the floor cutout for the round frame rail to fall into place.

Trunk Aluminum Floor

With the sides done, next up was the floor. After making the initial rough cut so I would have aluminum for the access panels, it was time to match it to the boxes in the floor.

Rough cut

After a few cuts it was starting to take shape.

Next up was the hole for the fuel pump access. The floor is becoming much lighter and flexible.

Then I cut the covers for the storage boxes and for the fuel pump out of a sheet of aluminum that I used to make the storage boxes. It is a little thicker than the floor and side aluminum.

I bought some aluminum piano hinge (Aluminum 5052-H32 Continuous Hinge without holes, Unfinished, 0.04" Leaf Thickness, 1-1/2" Open Width, 5/64" Pin Diameter, 1/2" Knuckle Length, 6' Long) that I'll use for the hinges. You can see them in the above picture.

I haven't done the final install yet as I wanted to fit the gas filler pipe and rear lights with the body on before I rivet in the trunk aluminum.

Gas Cap

Before I finish up the aluminum in the trunk, I wanted to work out how the gas cap/fuel filler was going to fit. Looking at the crazy shape of the filler pipe and where it ended up, no way was the straight section of rubber fuel hose was going to fit.

After playing around with it for a while, it looks like a 45 degree piece would fit.
I bought a Gates 24712 piece and started having at it. Trim a little here, little there and see if it would work. See below for proof.

As you can see in the above picture I also trimmed to top of the metal pipe. I cut about 1" off, but probably didn't need to cut that much. I did cut off the bead, which does make it much easier to install on the pipe. I think with a couple clamps it should hold as I ended up with about 2" overlap.

Rear Speakers

I wanted to have a radio and speakers in the car. Will I be able to hear them while driving? Who knows?
Anyways, I bought some 6"x9" speakers for the rear and 5-1/4" for the front, which I'm planning on putting in the doors.
For the rear speakers, I settled upon putting them in the side aluminum.

Cut the holes and slide on the clips.

With the speaker mounted

Looking from behind

Since the back will be in the wheel well, I starting mocking up how I would enclose them.

Yeah, like almost everything with the building of the car, it's taking me longer than expected to post all of this. I'm about 1/3 done updating these posts.
It is fun going back and re-reading all of this and remembering what it used to look like.

Wiper Motor

The windshield wipers. I bought the windshield wiper kit from Factory Five and was determined to make them work. The first step was to figure out where to mount the wiper motor, then figure out how to mount it. A quick test fit looks like there was enough room to the right of the heater right on the firewall.

Next up was how to mount it. Decided to use a piece of aluminum angle with a couple steel clamps. I drilled and dremeled out a few slots for the clamps.

Shown holding the motor.

Ground down the aluminum a bit some the clamps will sit flush when the bracket gets mounted to the firewall.

Wiper

With the motor mounted, it was on to the wiper boxes. It seems like the kit was setup for a mount/windshield at a different angle with the chrome piece and rubber sleeves cut at an angle. The mounts on the coupe body are already perpendicular to the windshield, so I need the boxes to mount straight in.

After drilling the holes in the body, I cut up a piece of PVC pipe to 1-3/8", then ground down the sides a bit to fit flush against the body. I slid these over the wiper boxes. I also took some rubber washers and cut the inside to fit over the threads. I decided not to use the chrome piece and just have the nut and rubber washer. This way, the wipers wouldn't stick up as much.

I only wanted it sticking up enough so with the rubber washer, the nut would be fully threaded.

Wiper cont.

I wasn't sure how tight the fit on the wipers sliding on the top of the box would be, so I drilled and tapped a set screw in the end.

Here's with the wiper mounted.

Now for the really fun part (not really). Trying to get the 5/16" brake lines to mount on the wiper boxes. Getting the correct length and getting them lined up was a challenge. This took a bunch of time to cut and flare the tubes and then get the inner cable to not bind, but not be too loose. It took a mixture of a hammer, vise and dremel tool, but finally got it working ok.

Hood

After reading up on other people's posts about mounting the hood, I decided I was ready to give it a shot for myself. After a quick test fit holding the front up on jacks and trying to gauge where the hinge brackets would go, it did look like I'd have to elongate the holes to get the hood to line up with the body pontoons. Rather than take a little off at a time, I just decided to do it in one big chunk. So I drilled a hole 3/4" from the edge of the current slot. Then took a dremel to cut between the slot and the new hole.

After dremeling and filing, then a quick paint touch up, the slot was now 2 1/2" long, which should be more than enough. It looked like there was still enough meat left on the bracket. This picture reminds me that I need to glue my ruler back together after accidentally stepping on it the other day.....

Put the washers and spacers in and put the rod ends fully threaded up.

With the jam nuts on and fully threaded, I put the hood back on the car. After a few days tweaking/measuring making sure it was fairly well centered, overhang on the wheels even, lining up with the pontoons, checking the gap to the pontoons, the hood looked pretty close the correct height with the jam nut on and only a couple threads showing. I still wanted to give myself a little more room for adjustment up and down if necessary, since the hood still needed to be trimmed, so I'm not exactly sure how it will sit (ie. gap between hood and pontoon) once this was done. So I cut the jam nut in two which gave me a little more room. Time will tell if I needed to do this or not. Then gave them a quick shot of paint as well.

I put the hood back on the jacks and positioned where I wanted one last time. Next was to drill the holes through the fog mounts and mount the fog light bracket and also an additional bolt on the top of it with a big washer.

More Doors

Now that the door frames were assembled, next up was to see how they'd fit into the doors. Since I was planning on having speakers in the door, I test fit where these were going to go. The 5-1/4" round speakers just fit inside the recessed area in the door.

Got the holes cut. What I found to work really well to make the cuts was a dremel tool with a 1-1/2" EZ lock round cutter. It would cut really straight and I could also use this to cut the round holes. I'd use the shop vac at the same time and there was almost no dust.

Shaved Door Kit

I purchased the Spal Shaved 40 Door kit a while back and now that I'm working on the doors, it was time to get them installed. They come with 40lb solenoids to pull the door latches open via remote control. That way I won't have to reach inside the window to open the door.

First thing was to find a spot for these and then figure out how to mount them. It looks like there was enough room right under the latch and I could mount the solenoid to pull straight down. There was already a mount welded to the body of the solenoid and it looked like it may work. I created a couple of mounts out of aluminum angle and riveted it to the door frame.

Here's with one side of the mount. I set the aluminum mounts in 1/4" on the 1" frame, so with the thickness of the solenoid mount and the head of the bolt it would be flush with the door frame when assembled.

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